Colorado College's volleyball team is well-known for making 19 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship.
The program extended another streak on Aug. 15 by being ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association's Top-25 Preseason Poll for the ninth season in a row and 10th time overall. The Tigers received 1,081 points, which was only 25 behind No. 8 University of Texas-Dallas.
CC begins its 2017 slate ranked No. 9, the third time in four years it will start the year in the top 10. The Tigers will have ample opportunity to climb toward the top of the poll in an effort to meet or exceed the program's best-ever mark of No. 3 set last year on Sept. 20.
Colorado College, which returns four starters and its libero from the 2016 squad that posted a 28-6 record, will play eight matches against opponents ranked in the AVCA's preseason poll, including a showdown with No. 1 Calvin College (1,573 points) on Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Elmhurst Invitational.
In that tournament, CC also will play its first set of back-to-back matches against ranked opponents when it tangles with No. 15 Hope College and No. 21 Elmhurst College on Friday night.
The Tigers also will play a pair of ranked opponents on the same day when it squares off with Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference rivals Southwestern University (No. 5) and Trinity University (No. 14) on Oct. 21 in Shreveport, Louisiana.
During the second week of conference play, the Tigers will face Trinity and Southwestern for the first time on Saturday, Sept. 30, and Sunday, Oct. 1, respectively, in Seguin, Texas.
Emory University was No. 2 with 1,395 points, while Washington-St. Louis (1,358), University of Northwestern (1,323) and Southwestern (1,291) rounded out the top five.
Colorado College kicks off the season with the CC Classic on Friday, Sept. 1, with matches against West Regional rival Whittier College and Ithaca College, which received 69 points and was second on the list of the 'others receiving votes' in the preseason poll.